"Don't wait. The time will never be just right." - Napoleon Hill

As I mentioned last week, depending on how your business entity is structured, you could be paying anywhere from 15-25% (or more!) of your business revenue into the coffers of the IRS and various state departments of revenue.

This is the outcome of these blog posts: Guiding you in better business decisions.

Below is a list of what you will need during the tax preparation process on the personal side. Not all of them will apply to you -- probably MOST will not. Nonetheless, it's a useful tax checklist.

Before you get overwhelmed: yes, this is a long list -- but it's the unfortunate reality of our tax code that it's not even comprehensive! These items will cover 95% of small businesses. Really, this is for ensuring that you're able to keep every dollar you can keep under our tax code.

Also note: There are certain CARES Act (stimulus) and CAA (second stimulus) items that you will need to know as well. I've notated them in italics.
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"15 years ago, the internet was an escape from the real world. Now, the real world is an escape from the internet." -Noah Smith

Depending on how your business entity is structured, you could be paying anywhere from 15-25% (or more!) of your business revenue into the coffers of the IRS and various state departments of revenue.

Which, of course, is what we're here to help you minimize.

That's why the "second stimulus bill" signed into law in late December 2020 was a welcomed one for us here at Utah Real Estate Accountants -- simply because it means small business owners are getting more choices during a very tumultuous time. Review this blog to see what is appropriate for your unique situation.

So, because we've been getting so many questions about these, I'd like to run them down as simply as possible so you can make the right choice of action. Because action will be necessary in some cases.

1) Revamped and expanded Employee Retention Tax Credit
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“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” -Confucius

Regardless of national events, or where things are at with PPP and EIDL -- as a small business owner, it's important that you take a REGULAR, clear-eyed look at the underlying legal and financial foundations of your business.

As we all pull our tax documentation together, I can't think of a better time.

I started with these last week, and I'm wrapping them up today.

My Small Business Health Quiz (Part 2)

From last week...

#1: Is the value of your business firmly established?
(Buy/Sell Agreements)
#2: Is there an emergency plan?
(Will & Asset Protection Strategy)
#3: What happens next?
(Business Succession Plan, and more)

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#1: Is the value of your business firmly established?
Questions to consider:

• Have I ever had my business value appraised by an outside party?
• Do I have a formal buy/sell agreement in place?
• Is my buy/sell agreement funded?
• Does my buy/sell agreement adequately protect my heirs, my business, and my partners?
• Has this agreement been reviewed in the last 3 years?

If you have any plans to someday extricate yourself from your business (and you should ALWAYS consider your exit strategy), these are critical questions.

#2: Is there an emergency plan?
Questions to consider:

• Do I have a will, and is it up to date with my business wishes?
• Do I have a plan to retain key employees if something were to happen to me?
• Are my assets protected from potential litigation?
• Have I identified and written down my trusted advisors?

Unless you plan to forever cheat death, a business owner would be foolish to not prepare for that event.

#3: What happens next?
Questions to consider:

• Do I have a formal succession plan prepared and on file?
• Does my succession plan have a provision for disability?

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"What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?” -Robert Schuller

The passage of this relief bill brought some changes that we had been hoping to see for months (notably the deductibility of PPP-related expenses), but there is much more to this relief bill than merely that, and the $600 stimulus payments that get all of the press.

So I thought I'd delve a little deeper than I did last week on the high points of this CAA bill.

Eviction Relief
This new measure extends the moratorium on evictions under the CARES Act, designed to protect renters from eviction, until January 31, 2021. That means, if you are a renter, you have one more month to get right. For landlords, you need to know that you will have to wait one more month.

PPP-Related Provisions
As I mentioned, businesses are now allowed to deduct expenses associated with their forgiven PPP loans -- this is amazing news.

Further, the new law provides $284.45 bill
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"People travel to wonder at the height of the mountains, at the huge waves of the seas, at the long course of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and yet they pass by themselves without wondering." -St. Augustine

"Help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.

"Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can't make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.

"Remind us that the scary-looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job!) is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares ...

"Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slowly through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that, bas
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"People travel to wonder at the height of the mountains, at the huge waves of the seas, at the long course of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and yet they pass by themselves without wondering." -St. Augustine

"Help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.

"Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can't make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.

"Remind us that the scary-looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job!) is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares ...

"Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slowly through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that, bas
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“Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.” -Henry van Dyke

I've discovered a few tricks when it comes to getting tasks done through the day -- and managing others who do so. Here are some little tactics I've found to be helpful: 

Turn off cell phone alerts.
Resist the temptation to stop what you're doing every time your phone beeps with a new message. You'll be better able to focus on tasks when you're not constantly distracted and interrupted.

Fine-tune your to-do list.
When planning your day, add estimated times to each item on your to-do list. This will help you decide what to do first and what can be saved for later.

Run two-minute drills.
Every few hours, look at your list for tasks that can be done quickly--answering emails and phone calls, confirming appointments, and the like. Spend a few minutes clearing those away, and you'll have more blocks of uninterrupted time to take on bigger tasks.

Take regular breaks.
You'll burn out if you go full throttle for eight or 10 hours. Determine how long you can effectively concentrate on a single task (usually between 30 minutes and an hour, for most peop
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2021 is hurtling at us, isn't it? May it ever come sooner.

Well, except for this part:

I'm here to remind you to plan now for how to best position your income, assets, and other revenues for the most favorable tax positions possible.

Let's make some tax-smart moves before 2020 comes to a close.

Here's one not many people are talking about: tax-deductible, employer-paid student loan payments.

Hidden within the CARES Act was this gem: employers can pay up to $5,250 to employees as student loan repayment assistance and it will not be taxable income to the employee. Employers can ALSO deduct the amount and not pay federal payroll taxes on the payments.

So if you're an "employee" of your own a business, and you have outstanding student loans, here's what to do:

1. Make a written plan (there are some provisos here -- more in a moment)
2. Make a payment to your student loans up t
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There's both good news (for some) and bad news (for many) as we round the corner into December.

And I'm not talking about our culture, or politics, or sports, or anything like that.

I'm talking about TAXES.

I'll start with the good news. This is applicable to some of my readers only, but it is nice news for business owners in certain high tax states.

One of the difficult aspects of the TCJA was the "SALT" (state and local tax) deduction limitations. Specifically, in high-tax states, this represented a difficult setback in what could be deducted.

Well, one semi-sneaky way around this limitation has just been tentatively approved by the IRS in Notice 2020-75: paying these taxes on behalf of the owner or partners through an S-corp or partnership (pass through entity), and enabling them to be counted as a business expense.

This workaround immediately came into effect in MD, LA, CT, NJ, OK, RI and WI. Four more states already have legislation on the dockets: AL
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